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At the school level, school management and the work lives of principals of central schools are affected by the small size of both the student population and the staff of the school and by the requirement by the DET that the school provided for the 13 years of combined primary and secondary education from Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12).

Context of a small school: Central schools have decreased in size

At the time of this study, the majority of NSW central schools were very small with combined primary and secondary enrolments of fewer than 100 students. In the 20 years between 1987 and 2007, the proportion of central schools with more than 100 students has declined from 75 per cent to 19 per cent of all central schools, while the proportion of small-sized central schools consequently has increased (NSW DET, 1998;

Page 19 NSW DET, 2008, see Table 1.2). Despite some improvement in retention rates of students staying at school to matriculation level the total population of students in remote schools has declined at an even faster rate than the decline in the population of local remote town communities. In some cases, such as in Hatton‟s studies (1995, 1996), remote central schools have been reduced to primary schools providing education to Year 6 only. The typical central school in a remote town is considerably smaller than was the case 20 years previously.

Table ‎1.2 Number of central schools in Classes 1 and 2

Class of central school 1987

% of all central schools 2007 % of all central schools

Class 1: More than 300 students 11 17 4 a 6

Class 2: 100-300 students 38 58 9 13

Central schools with more than 100 students 49 75 13 19

Total number of central schools 65 67

Note. a The larger schools were in coastal regions near higher growth areas. Data from NSW DET, 1998; 2008.

Lower school retention rates

In addition to a decline in the general student population, the proportion of students staying at school until matriculation remains at low levels. Remote town students are less likely to finish school than not only their metropolitan counterparts but also students in other rural centres. What is particularly striking is that the gap of 9 per cent between remote towns and the group of all rural centres is even greater than the gap of 4 per cent between students from metropolitan areas and students from the group of all rural centres (see Table 1.3).

Table ‎1.3 Retention rates to complete Year 12

Remote town All rural centres Metropolitan

54 per cent 63 per cent 67 per cent

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Remote schools getting smaller: Resistance to closure

When governments have attempted to close smaller schools, they have faced strong resistance from local communities who have raised funds for the facilities in the local school and feared losing the heart of their communities. According to Peshkin‟s (1978) study of small rural school closures there has been a long tradition of residents acting in response to the imminent loss of their school with a passion comparable to that of people who feel their cultural survival is threatened (Peshkin, cited in Hampel, 2002).

The long distances from remote towns to alternative schools in other centres limit the choice for parents and their children, especially for very young children. State governments have not always been responsive to these concerns. For example, shortly after the Education Reform Act (1990), the Greiner government in NSW closed small schools across the state. However, after a series of protest rallies, the new Minister for Education adopted a more conciliatory approach in implementing reforms and avoided further school closures, especially in remote areas.

In the state of Victoria in Australia and in New Zealand, closures of small rural schools were similarly resisted. Following the 1993 Schools of the Future reforms in the state of Victoria, the new Kennett government closed 55 schools within a few months of its election. Remote communities of Victoria strongly resisted these closures (Bowie, 1995). In New Zealand, small communities were most opposed to school closures following the 1989 Tomorrow’s Schools’ reforms (A. Campbell, 2004).

Parent and community lobbying of parliamentary representatives in reaction to proposed closure of small remote schools has resulted in the NSW DET accepting a policy of keeping small central schools open when, in the capital, Sydney, and other rural centres, schools of a similar size were being closed. This policy has resulted in a higher proportion of central schools having low enrolments in comparison with other schools in the state and in comparison with the situation for central schools 20 or 50 years earlier.

Page 21 Context of a K-12 school providing 13 years of education

When specifically considering the principalship in small towns and remote areas, studies have usually considered the work lives of principals of primary schools which educated children in the first seven years (K-6) of their school lives. Historically, central schools in NSW were developed as extensions of primary schools and provided some secondary education only up to the early years, Years 7 and 8, of secondary schooling. The academic years in secondary departments of NSW central schools have been gradually extended as the minimum age for leaving school has increased.

This change in policy has resulted in a significant change in the staffing of central schools. Historically, central schools were established to provide at least some secondary education for isolated students who had completed their primary education and needed to stay at school until they had reached the minimum school leaving age, which was gradually increased during the 20th century. At the time of the Australian Federation in 1901, the minimum school leaving age in NSW was 13 years and until 1943, when the minimum school leaving age in NSW was increased to 15 years, retention of students to secondary education remained at low levels. Low attendance was indicated by the study of Burke and Spaull (2001), who found that in 1936, NSW secondary education systems could not account for about 40 per cent of children who had completed their primary schooling in 1934 (G. Burke & Spaull, 2001), but were not enrolled in secondary schools.

Low enrolments compounded by low attendance rates, of secondary age children meant that there was little urgency to employ secondary trained teachers, let alone secondary-trained principals, in remote central schools, and significant numbers of families seeking secondary education for their children sent them to boarding schools in metropolitan or regional centres. In 1943, the minimum school leaving age in NSW was increased to 15 years and this remained the case until the implementation of the

Wyndham Scheme and the introduction of a School Certificate in Year 10 in 1965 when the leaving age effectively became 16 years. In 1967, the NSW government extended secondary education, originally for the five years, Year 7 to Year 11, by a year to include Year 12. In 2009, the NSW government extended the minimum school leaving

Page 22 age to 17 years and the extended leaving age has created a continuing demand for accessible secondary education. At the time of this research, 95 per cent of central schools in NSW provided an education up to matriculation level for small cohorts of local students.

The typical central school in NSW now provides education for all students up to university matriculation level. In the state of NSW, Australia, the DET, known as the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) after 2011, maintains central schools which offer to “provide a comprehensive education for children from Kindergarten to Year 12” (NSW DEC, 2012, p. 1), usually in areas where the population is insufficient to warrant the establishment of separate primary and secondary schools. In 1997, Year 11 and Year 12 students preparing for the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) can choose from a range of 140 courses (NSW Department of School Education, 1997).

In December 1997, the NSW Department of School Education (DSE) and NSW Technical and Further Education (TAFE) amalgamated to become the NSW Department of Education and Training (NSW Government, 2011b). As part of the facility of a combined DET, HSC students can also select from the full range of TAFE–delivered vocational (VET) courses, known as TVET courses (TAFE NSW, 2010). These courses include 12 Industry Curriculum Framework (ICF) courses developed by the NSW Board of Studies, by means of which students can gain accreditation in industry traineeships at the same time as gaining a HSC. The expectation is that all students, regardless of geographic location, should and will have access to the full provision of this broad curriculum.

The information provided by the NSW DEC about the nature of central schools has been sparse. On its webpage, “Going to a public school” (NSW DEC, 2012), the DEC provides extensive information about each type of school in the NSW system of public education. However, the description of a central school consists of only two statements; they “reflect and respond to the needs of their local communities” and they provide remote communities with “comprehensive education” (p. 1).

The DEC‟s statement that central schools provide remote communities with a

Page 23 students with choices from over 100 possible courses. In providing a comprehensive education to Higher School Certificate (HSC) level in Year 12, central schools need to find the required specialist teaching resources, either on-site or off-site, for any of the

full range of over 100 HSC courses including Vocational Education Training (VET)

courses provided either by the school or a TAFE campus. In addition, central schools also are required to provide school based apprenticeships in remote communities which do not have other providers of apprenticeship training. Principals of central schools need to spend considerable time in consultation with a wide range of bodies to ensure that students are provided with fully accredited courses. The checklist of consultation processes in NSW (DEC, 2013b) is four pages long.

In one of their major principalship roles, that of being instructional leaders, principals of central schools therefore have had the task of providing a complete curriculum not only for the seven years (K-6) of primary education but also for the six years (7-12) up to university matriculation level. When schools do not have specialist staff available to deliver a course chosen by the student then the DET, and the local community, expect that the school should attempt to guide students in ways to enrol and study such courses externally. The main external providers of the full range of HSC courses are the DET Distance Education Centres and TAFE Institutes, which are located in larger rural centres. In order to complete the work placement components of VET courses students need to travel each week to workshops and other vocational training facilities in the major rural centres.

Vocational Education Training (VET) courses are particularly popular in

communities with higher proportions of students who do not aspire to matriculate to a university course. Making transport and timetable arrangements for students to work in enterprises which have suitable facilities for work placement programs as prescribed in each VET course, poses particular problems for central schools located in small towns which do not have such enterprises.

The multiplicity of course offerings available to secondary students, as well as the maintenance of a full primary curriculum means that principals were responsible for maintaining specialist staffing, buildings and resources and also for ensuring that staff,

Page 24 often novice teachers, are professionally developed to take up their teaching roles. Teachers are often the only on-site specialist in their field and, in addition, are usually teaching at least some classes outside their own specialist area to fulfil timetable requirements with a small staff. The requirement to provide a full curriculum is compounded by the geographical isolation imposed on leaders of schools in remote areas which significantly inhibits in particular the opportunity for staff to gain

specialisations or to develop collegial relationships with other teachers within the same specialty.

Principals of central schools therefore work in multiple contexts, some of which they share with principals of schools in metropolitan or larger rural centres, but many of which are peculiar to the situation of schools in remote towns and villages. However, the literature available on each of these contexts has often omitted consideration of the key relationships between the school and the context. Thus, there has been a decided gap in the literature concerning schools in remote Australia and even more so in discussion about the work lives of principals working in these settings. The remainder of this thesis will address this important gap.

Section 4: Impetus and Rationale of the Thesis - Work Lives and School Context